Behind an outstanding effort from its defense, Alabama thrashed Texas A&M, 41-23, to extend its record to 6-1.
The victory also proved that the Crimson Tide will belong in the College Football Playoff if they are to win out.
Make no mistake about it: this was an excellent performance from the Alabama defense. After all, the Aggies came into the game 19th nationally in total offense, averaging 480.4 yards per game. The A&M passing attack averaged 292.4 yards per game and had done a great job making decisions, committing only three picks heading into week seven. The Aggie ground game had also been enjoying a fine season, rushing for 188 yards in the first five contests, highlighted by a 194-yard effort against Mississippi State two weeks ago.
With numbers like that, Texas A&M had to like its chances to move the ball against the Crimson Tide defense.
Yet, it couldn’t. Alabama seized control of the game from the opening whistle, and never looked back. After a tipped pass on the first play of the game resulted in a first down, the Tide defense responded by getting A&M off the field, highlighted by a sack on third down and six. It followed that up with a pick-six on the next drive, and kept A&M from crossing midfield on the ensuing drive.
Although it was only the first quarter, those three series set the tone for the entire game. Instead of moving the ball and being competitive with Alabama, Texas A&M found itself down 14 points after the first three drives.
While the word “dominant” gets used way too much when describing college football contests, it’s absolutely appropriate to use it here. The Crimson Tide front seven harassed Aggie signal callers all afternoon, recording six sacks and forcing a number of errant throws. The secondary was every bit as impressive as the pass rush, picking off four passes – one more than A&M had thrown all season – and returning three of them for touchdowns.
In addition, the Alabama defense held the Aggies to just 4-of-16 third down conversions – nearly half the rate A&M had converted coming into the contest.
It’s hard to argue with those results.
So, what does this victory mean in the grand scheme of things?
Quite frankly, it puts Alabama in control of its down destiny when it comes to the College Football Playoff – regardless of what Ole Miss does from here on out. Remember, the goal of the Selection Committee is to put the four best teams in the bracket – not necessarily the four highest ranked conference champions. Even with the loss to the Rebels, the Crimson Tide has an impressive body of work, including wins over Wisconsin, Georgia, and Texas A&M. If it were to win out, it would also own a win over LSU.
It’d be awfully tough to leave out a team with those credentials, especially when that team has such a great defense. That was certainly the case in 2011, when a non-conference champion got the nod over a conference champion in the BCS title game. There’s no reason to think it couldn’t happen again.
